Human beings have been summiting Mount Everest for over 60 years. For more than half a century, a large number of Western explorers have flocked to the Himalayas to challenge the world’s highest snow-capped peaks, and many of these mountains have gradually seen their first ascents.
Yet those of us living on the northern side of the Himalayas have seldom ventured to the other side of the roof of the world to explore the unknown.
In recent years, many have started pouring into the overcrowded regions of the Annapurna and Khumbu ranges. Everyone follows the ropes fixed by Sherpas and treads in the footprints of predecessors, reaching the summits of 8,000-meter peaks time and again.
But some explorers have turned their eyes to a few remote and rarely visited serene valleys. The Rolwaling Valley is one of them. With its inaccessible location, massive and steep terrain, expeditions here have always been few and far between. In recent years, some of the world’s top climbers have set their sights on Rolwaling. However, there is no record of any Chinese attempting unclimbed peaks or new routes on the southern slopes of the Himalayas.
The Massive Glacier of Bamongo
Bamongo is located at the end of the Rolwaling Valley, at an altitude of 6,400 meters. It is connected to the sacred mountain Gaurishankar and the Kangnachugo ridge, forming the border peak between Tibet, China, and Nepal. Due to this, the route to Bamongo is extremely challenging, with only the south and north faces viable for climbing. The east and west ridges are very long and treacherous.
In the past decade, nearby peaks have gradually been first ascended by Western mountaineers. However, no records of a Bamongo summit have been found in the Nepalese tourism authorities' database.
Base Camp
The lower section of the climb proceeds through a mix of glacier and rock face
On October 21, 2013, KAILAS climber Liu Yong and a team of strong local Nepalese climbers—MINGMA DYALJE and PEMA—formed an independent joint mountaineering group. They trekked into the valley to challenge Bamongo. After seven days of trekking, they reached the base camp at an altitude of 4,800 meters.
Route Map 1: The 6,400m summit of Bamongo within reach
On October 28, they began climbing the massive glacier, scouting the route upward. Due to a sudden snowstorm, the team could only descend after reaching 5,440 meters. The next day, they carried an additional tent and climbed higher again, navigating a complex crevasse area before setting up a high camp on a crevasse at 5,440 meters.
Route Map 2: The climbing route on the ridgeline—we ascended from the snowy section right next to the rock wall
At 5 a.m. the following day, the three set off, carrying a 60-meter rope. They began ascending vertically up the steep south face of Bamongo for 600 meters, then traversed onto the razor-sharp ridgeline. As they started climbing the ridgeline, the weather worsened. Above 6,000 meters, wind speeds reached 80–100 km/h. The howling wind whipped snow into the climbers’ faces, making it extremely cold and causing numbness in their hands and feet.
The ridgeline was mostly soft powder snow, making it difficult to set effective protection
The steep snowy section next to the rock wall behind and to the left was our route
As we neared the summit, the weather deteriorated, and the strong winds made climbing very difficult
The team fought against the wind and cold, taking turns to push upward. After five hours of climbing and gaining a vertical elevation of 400 meters, they finally stood triumphantly on the summit of Bamongo at 14:25 local time on October 30, 2013.
Summit Prayer
After spending 20 minutes on the summit, the team carefully began descending. Because of the powder snow conditions, setting effective protection was nearly impossible. To maintain speed, they had also opted not to set fixed protection for most of the route. The three descended cautiously, tied together with a rope, and finally returned to base camp at 21:30 that night.
Liu Yong and MINGMA take a photo at the base camp after the climb
The entire climb took 16.5 hours. It was fast and lightweight, with no more than 15 fixed protection points and no fixed ropes used. To maintain speed, there was no time to stop for food. The slope proved steeper than expected, and during the south face climb, there were no suitable platforms for setting up comfortable belay stations. Repeated ice kicking caused varying degrees of injury to the climbers’ toes.
The top of the climbing route featured hanging glaciers, but due to favorable snow conditions and strong winds, there wasn’t much snow accumulation, making it relatively safe. However, in the case of continuous heavy snowfall, it would be quite dangerous. Moreover, the ridgeline above was covered in very soft powder snow, almost impossible to protect. The ridgeline itself was thin and steep—climbers had to clear the surface to create a space just large enough for one foot, requiring extreme caution.
The summit was a relatively large platform with thick snow, offering views of both the Tibetan and Nepalese sides, as well as distant peaks such as Shishapangma, Cho Oyu, and Everest.
The climbing route had a total elevation gain of 1,600 meters (starting from the glacier), difficulty rated ED, with angles of 40–60 degrees.
Upon Liu Yong’s suggestion, all three team members agreed to name the climbing route: “The Che Guevara Road” (ROAD OF CHE GUEVARA), symbolizing deep meaning.
This was a successful first ascent of an unclimbed peak on the southern side of the Himalayas—an expedition driven purely by the love of climbing. It marked the first time Chinese climbers undertook such an exploration in this region, representing not only a triumph of individual spirit but also a bold step by China’s grassroots mountaineering community venturing abroad to explore the unknown.
For the KAILAS Unclimbed Peaks Program, this also marks the first time a new route has been opened in a foreign country on the southern side of the Himalayas, opening a new chapter for the program.
People: Mingma Doylij comes from the ROLWALING Valley and is one of the representative figures among the new generation of Nepalese mountaineers. He has summitted Lhotse, Makalu, Kangchenjunga, and Cho Oyu without supplemental oxygen, and has reached the summit of Everest four times. He is a UIAGM Alpine Guide in Nepal (one of only 41 in the country), possessing comprehensive mountaineering skills. In 2011, he made the first ascent of Cheke-Go at 6,257 meters in the ROLWALING Valley.
PEMA is from ROLWALING, has summited Everest 12 times, climbed over 20 peaks above 8,000 meters, and has completed ascents of many technical mountains.
Liu Yong, a KAILAS climbing team member, is the first Chinese judge of the Piolet d’Or. He has completed numerous unclimbed peaks and new routes, and has carried out many first ascents in China, Europe, Asia, and other regions.